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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Author atop a wooden bridge across River Ravi on way to Bharmour in Chamba District

Having seen the photographs posted
by Mr. Sadanand Kamath in his blog ‘Rambling in the Gaddi Heartland of Himachal Pradesh’ posted in May, 2012,
I had wanted to visit Chamba since, as it was one of the areas in Himachal not
visited by me till date. Therefore,
during the summer break of my kids I decided to visit the pristine destination
alongwith our extended family, which included my mother and mother-in-law also. The distance from Delhi to Chamba is about 580 Kms. and it would
have taken more than 14 hours to reach the destination by road, had we been
able attain an average speed of 40 kmph, but this was next to impossible during
the peak summer rush. Such a journey
would not only have been physically discomforting for the elderly, but also a
tiresome journey for all us too, which would have marred the joy of journey at
its inception itself. Having weighed all
the pros & cons, I decided to cover the major distance by train and
accordingly, booked the A/C tickets in ‘Dhauladhar Express’ for the 6th
June, 2014 upto Pathankot. There are
plethoras to trains running upto Jammu
and Pathankot being a major station on the way, all such trains stop at this
destination. However, I found from the
schedule that most of the trains start early and subsequently also drop you at
Pathankot very early, before 5.00 A.M in most of the trains and by the time you
reach your destination, you are neither fully awake nor able to sleep during
the drive, thus, you do not enjoy your onward journey under such conditions. The 6th of June, 2014 being a
Friday and working day, the ‘Dhauladar Express’ was most convenient, as it
leaves Old Delhi Railway Station at 10.45 P.M. at night and one has ample time
to get back from office and leave in time for the ensuing journey,
simultaneously it reaches Pathankot the next day at 8.20 A.M, by which time
there is sufficient day light for good photography as well as people usually have
completed their morning ablutions by that time.

Leaving Pathankot

The author with his wife, daughter & Mr. Mahajan-epitome of hospitality in Pathankot

View of Ranjit Sagar Dam from road to Chamba

The winding roads after Pathankot

We started our journey
in the right earnest by hiring a taxi from my residence and the station being a
wee bit far coupled with its placement in a crowded location, we started well
in time. The temperature during the day
had shot up to 47 degrees Celsius and it was still raging hot when we reached
the railway station. Having boarded the
train, we waited for the Air Conditioner to start, but it would not and we had
to ingest copious amounts of water and Cold drinks to ward off the heat. But as the train moved from the station, even
after having got past Kishanganj station, the AC did not function
properly. We left Delhi behind, still suffering in agony of the
sultry heat and when the temperatures soared inside the train bogey and
commuters started asking for the complaint book, a mechanic turned up and made
some adjustments after which the AC started working properly. The reason he gave was that as the power to
run the AC is received from the train engine and consequently only when the
train engine attains speed that the AC is turned on in full. Thereafter, the night passed by uneventfully. However, the main reason for the purported
fault in AC revealed itself in the morning, when we saw a huge gathering in the
station with all kinds of people and musical instruments thronging the station
in Pathankot. On enquiry, it dawned that
the local Member Parliament of Gurdaspur, Sh. Vinod Khanna was traveling in the
same train and in order to facilitate his comfort, the AC in the train had been
turned on in full force in his compartment, at cost of other paying members and
so referred to as ‘Cattle class’ from the same fraternity, this is an example
of how Indian Railways attends to the VIPs.

Nainikhud village on way to Chamba

Bidding goodbye to the Mahajan family in Nainikhud

Bird's eye view of Nainikhud village as seen from road to Banikhet

As the road winds up towards Banikhet

Chamera Dam - view from road just after crossing Banikhet

Having disembarked from
the train at Pathankot, we got on to the Mahindra Xylo, being driven by the
tour operator himself, Mr. Bhutto as he had been engaged through Mr.Mahajan,
relative of my wife’s friend, who too in all his magnanimity had turned up at
the Railway station to receive us and also provided us with a sumptuous B’fast
& water et al for the journey ahead.
Since the tour operator Mr. Bhutto personally knew the Mahajan family
well, he was in all praise for the kind of grand hospitality they were known to
offer to all family visitors & friends alike. As we had just gone past Pathankot, my wife
received a call on her mobile handset from the other brother from the Mahajan
family residing in Nainikhud, seeking information about our whereabouts and
probable time of reaching their place, despite my wife’s best efforts and
stating that B’fast had already been served by the other brother of the
Mahajan’s, they were not inclined to relent and we had to promise them to take
a break for partaking B’fast with them at Nainikhud.

Approaching Chamba - NHPC residential Complex across Ravi River

Heading towards Chamba town

Water being released into Ravi River by a Hydro Power plant after crossing Chamba

A dam near Chattarari village where the road tunnel is situated

Huge statute of Lord Shiva near banks of River Ravi

Villages perched precariously by mountain sides

Pathankot is situated in
the Indian state of Punjab, but its proximity with the other two states of
Himachal Pradesh & Jammu & Kashmir alongwith the border with Pakistan makes
it a very important township strategically.
It is a nondescript little destination situated on the banks of ChakkiRiver,
which is a rain is fed river. It is perched
at an altitude of 331 meters (about 1086 feet) of mean sea level and therefore,
considerably hot. We went past Pathankot
through the Jullunder-Dalhousie Bye-pass raod and thereafter, headed along the Mandi Pthankot Road
upto Nurpur. Beyond Nurpur as you head
higher into the hills through the winding roads, you can see the Ranjit Sagar
Dam and thereafter, you take the State Highway 33 (also known as Pathankot-Chamba-Tissa Road). Further you continue uphill upto the point
where the where the State Highway 28 meets with the State Highway 33 at
Tunnuhatti and therefrom the road starts its downhill run upto Nainikhud, which
is at an altitude of 950 odd meters or 3300 feet above mean sea level. Nanikhud is a small commercial hub with two
banks and a small market catering to the requirements of region around. We stopped here for B’fast with the Mahajan
family who run a successful cloth business here.

Narrow roads running along the Ravi River towards B harmour

Distant view of the bridge at Kharamukh

From Nainikhud the road
again starts winding upwards towards Banikhet, which is at an altitude of about
1700 meters or 5,500 feet of mean sea level.
This is another nondescript but busy village, teeming with shops and
small hotels and is the point from where the road continues towards Chamba and
another bifurcates towards Dalhousie.
During peak summer seasons, when Dalhousie is full, many travelers who
come to visit Dalhousie without prior booking, which is often the case with
tourists driving in from Punjab, they seek
refuge for the night at Banikhet. Beyond
Banikhet the road starts meandering alongwith the RaviRiver, one of the ‘Panch ab’ (Five
waters) that make up Punjab, namely Jhelum, Chenab, Sutlej, Beas and Ravi. After
traveling a few kilometers along the road, one comes across the scenic Chamera
Dam and being a place that offers water sports, it has become a tourist
destination for many visiting the Chamba region. Passing by many a nondescript little
villages, some by the road side and some perched precariously on mountainsides,
making up stupendous natural vistas, accompanied by small Hydro Power plants
designated as Chamera-I,II, III & IV etc. all along the River side, one
reaches Chamba. Instead for heading for
the township, we made it towards Bharmour from the roundabout, continuing with
the Chamba-Holi Road.

The bridge across River Ravi at Kharamukh

Budhil Rivulet from Bharmour side meets Ravi River at Kharamukh

Headed towards Bharmour from Kharamukh - an upward climb all the way

The first glimpse of Abode of Lord Shiva - the Manimahesh Kailash

After crossing Chamba, the
road traverses almost along the banks of the Ravi River, as the road is almost
at level with the flowing River and one continues to travel along its left bank
till one reaches a fairly big village known as ‘Rakh’, where after you cross a
bridge and continue your journey along the right bank of the River. Thereafter, having crossed Chattarari where a
barrage/dam has been constructed and just as you cross the bridge you enter a
fairly big tunnel about 500 meters or more in length that is a part of the
Hydro Power plant situated there and emerge on the other side of the tunnel,
headed towards Khadamukh. The name
‘Khadamukh’ meaning literally ‘A straight face’ aptly describes this little
village that is situated at the base of huge mountains all around and at this
juncture, the road bifurcates towards Bharmour and the main road continues
straight towards Holi. One has to take a
left turn, crossing over the bridge across River Ravi and continue ascending
towards Bharmour, which is perched at an altitude of about 2100 meters or about
7000 feet above mean sea level and as aptly described in Wikipedia and I quote
– “The land is blessed
with deep beauty of abundant alpine pastures and provides home for nomadic
shepherds, known asGaddi, thus also called
Gadderan. The foothills are filled with orchards and terraced farmsteads. The
epitome of spirituality lies in this land as it is endow with ancient temples.
The area goes through inhospitable terrain and severe climate changes. “KailashVasio” as the people of Bharmour are known are extremely
courteous and welcomes you like their own family member. Along with its ethnic
traditions, culture and ancient history, Bharmour forms the perfection of
divine splendor”. Thus, we reached Bharmour the land of the
Gaddi’s & Lord Shiva. More details
about the destination in my next blog.